SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – A federal court in the northern Brazilian state of Amapá yesterday gave authorities three days to restore power after a days-long, state-wide blackout due to a transformer fire.
The northern state has been virtually without electricity since a blackout on Tuesday night and is receiving only 10% of its normal power supply, the national grid operator ONS said last week. Authorities are working round the clock to replace transformers that were knocked out by a fire at the main power station in the capital city of Macapá, where most of the state’s 862,000 inhabitants live.
Power must be re-established, or there will be fine of 15 million reais, federal Judge João Bosco da Silva ruled, in response to a suit brought by Senator Randolfe Rodrigues.
As of Saturday, the federal government task force had managed to restore 65% of the state’s cargo, according to a note from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday that the situation will only be fully resolved in ten days.
